C. Shaw Smith

Professor and Chair of Art

EDUCATION
Ph.D., M.A., B.A. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

I’ve been a member of the Davidson faculty for 30 years. Growing up in Davidson as the son of a magician and a musician, I went to Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar. An undergraduate English major, I graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors.

After working as a social worker in the North Carolina Corrections System (under former Davidson College President Bobby Vagt!), I completed my Ph.D. in Art History. My teaching includes courses on American Art, 18th century European Art, and Contemporary Art as well as specialized seminars in subjects such as Bearden, Courbet, David, Delacroix, Impressionism, Orientalism, Romanticism, Art of Paris, Art of Spain, Art of the American South, and Post-Modernism. My scholarship and publications have focused on French art and particularly that of the romantic artist, Eugène Delacroix. I’ve made academic presentations in many countries including Scotland, Ireland, France, Cuba, Spain, and Mexico. In Paris, I have given many lectures including a number of seminars at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and a lecture at the prestigious Ecole normale supérieure.

One of my lifetime goals is to visit all the Francophone countries throughout the world. With trips to Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, Sénégal, and Québec, thanks to many grants, this goal is at least closer in sight. I enjoy a wide range of other interests, including riding motorcycles (once riding from London to Jerusalem and back), participating in musical groups (such as the Davidson College Choral Arts Society), body-building, and other sports. After my football playing days were over, I worked part-time with the Carolina Panthers in the National Football League for 13 years and I continue to work with the Davidson College football team as an equipment assistant on the weekends. My wife is Ann Haley, and our sons, Jason and Blake, and daughter-in-law, Constanza, all went to Davidson. We have two grandchildren, Lucas and Soledad.